News: Weight reduction yields health benefits beyond diabetes risk reduction, study suggests

Sustained midlife weight reduction, without the use of surgical or pharmacological methods, yields positive health benefits beyond reducing the risk for diabetes, a new study published in JAMA Network Open suggests.

The study examined a cohort of 23,149 adults with follow-ups ranging from 12 to 35 years. Of the 23,149 participants, 72.1% were men and the median age was 39 years old.

According to the authors of the report, the participants demonstrated a “decreased risk of developing chronic disease” after a follow-up of 22.8 years. Additionally, weight loss within the cohort was “associated with decreased mortality.”

“Compared with persistent overweight,” the researchers said, “[midlife] weight loss was associated with a decreased risk of incident chronic disease, both including and excluding diabetes, over follow-up of 12.2 and 22.8 years, as well as decreased all-cause mortality over a 35-year follow-up.”

Editor’s note: To read the JAMA Network Open study, click here.